Pets Are Attractive
by jiyanyan77
Summary: Gajeel was forced to go online dating. Gajeel thinks it's stupid. Levy is bored out of her mind. Levy just wants cute animals and free food. Modern AU. Author's Note: Hey, guys. I haven't written in a while so I hope you'll enjoy this. Please leave a review to tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1

"C'mon, man! Pets are chick magnets!"

"I ain't using Lily as my profile picture on a fuckin' dating site!"

"Natsu has a point though. He met Lucy because she thought Happy was adorable."

Gajeel grumbled, crossing his arms, "That's 'cause she saw his nasty mug before she saw the cat. Happy was just an excuse to talk to 'im."

"Well… You're not wrong." Natsu frowned in thought, "Girls may be interested in Lily, but the moment they see you, they'll be gone quicker than you can say 'blue balls'." This earned him an elbow to the side by Gajeel.

Gray took the phone from Gajeel's hands, "How about we take a picture of you and Lily together? If it worked for Natsu, it will work for you."

"Yeah- wait. What do ya mean by that, ya nudist?!" the pink-haired boy growled.

"That you're ugly as balls, shithead!" Gray retorted.

Gray and Natsu began engaging in a shoving fight, pushing and kicking each other while yelling insults at each other. Gajeel rubbed his temple out of exasperation.

"Y'know what? This was a big mistake. Online datin' is stupid anywa-"

Natsu finally shoved hard enough, making Gray fall off his chair, and he whined, "Hey, no! You've been single for like… Forever! All you do is work in the restaurant and you're always alone. Come on, man. Just humor us at least." Gajeel raised a studded brow at his best friend them turned to Gray, receiving a sympathetic nod of agreement from the dark haired boy.

"Fine. Fine. Let's get this over with!"

3 hours and 87 pictures later, Natsu and Gray finally got a decent photo of Gajeel with his black cat, Pantherlily. They made him pose with his motorcycle in the background because Natsu insisted that it adds more charm.

"So, what do we put in your bio?" Natsu asked, eager to upload Gajeel's profile onto the dating site.

"How 'bout: 'My friends are making me do this.'?" Gajeel chuckled. He plucks his phone from Natsu's hands and begins typing away. Natsu then steals the phone back from him, "That's lame!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes, "It's funny. Besides, I ain't interested in a girl who doesn't like my sense of humor."

Gray smirked, "So you _are_ looking for something serious. All this time you've been saying that dating is pointless, when really, you just want a serious, long-lasting relationship."

Natsu laughed at this, patting Gajeel on the back, "You hopeless romantic."

"Well, duh. I ain't gettin' myself into a relationship if it ain't serious. It's a big ol' waste of my time." Gajeel huffed, looking away to hide the pink tinge on his cheeks. Natsu smiled at that and pressed 'done' on the phone. And with that, Gajeel's profile was uploaded and now all they had to do was wait.

The boys then had dinner, played a few games, and after that, it had already gotten dark out, so Gray and Natsu left. Gajeel wouldn't admit it, but he was actually quite lonely. Natsu was initially Gajeel's roommate, but he moved out a few months ago since he kept on staying over at Lucy's apartment and it was basically like he lived there already so Lucy let him move in. Gray's girlfriend, Juvia, was already roommates with Gray ever since, so there was nothing new there. Gajeel only had Pantherlily, and as much as he loved that cat, he really did feel lonely.

After cleaning up the mess his friends left in his apartment, Gajeel laid on his bed, pulling Pantherlily into his arms. His cat was already used to his snuggles, but not before giving him multiple scratches and bite marks when he first tried to be affectionate towards Lily. Gajeel unplugged his phone from its charger and began watching some videos. Several videos in, he decided to give his dating profile a visit and was surprised by the amount of message requests he received.

Most of the girls who left messages were too basic for his taste or were looking for a one-night stand and he wasn't into that either. One message, however, caught his eye. It was sent by a girl named Levy McGarden.

_[8:44 pm]_

_Levy M.: Hey, I know your friends are just making you do this so you don't have to reply or anything, but I really like your cat._

He huffed, "Damn, Natsu wasn't kiddin'."

Gajeel visited the girl's profile just as he did with the other girls and was quite impressed.

_Name: Levy McGarden_

_Age: 21_

_Likes: Books, food, more books (I'm honestly not interesting)_

_Dislikes: The dark, my friends, people who force me on dating sites (aka my friends)_

_Bio: I don't get out much._

Her tapped on her profile picture and felt his stomach do a backflip. 'She's pretty cute.' he thought to himself. She was posing in front of a mirror in what clearly seemed to be a bathroom. She was wearing a large grey sweater and while one hand was holding up the phone, her other hand was in her jacket pocket. Her expression was bored with a little pout, but that didn't change the fact that he thought she had soft and cute features. She had blue hair that was held back by a yellow hair band and behind her thick-framed glasses were a pair of eyes that were the most mesmerizing shade of hazel.

Almost immediately, Gajeel saved her picture, took a screenshot of her message and her profile, and sent them to his group chat with Natsu and Gray.

_[9:21 pm]_

_Loner studs (Gajeel): okay she kinda cute.. should i reply?_

_[9:38 pm]_

_Male sugar baby (Gray): Oof. Nice. Reply!_

_[9:39 pm]_

_Loner studs (Gajeel): aight noq i jus gotta wait for natsu_

_Loner studs(Gajeel): *now_

_[10:01 pm]_

_Beginners luck (Natsu): GREEN FLAG GREEN FLAG GREEN FLAG_

Gajeel chuckled switching back to the dating app and began typing his reply.

_[10:04 pm]_

_Gajeel R.: Heh. Thanks. I like your toilet._

The girl, Levy, was not online so he decided to return to watching videos. It was getting late, but still no reply came, so Gajeel plugged his phone back into its charger and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Levy threw her bag on her bed and stared at her desk. It was a strange feeling for her to be without any projects left to do. She had completed all of her tasks the week before out of habit and now that she had so much spare time, she was at a loss. Her roommate Cana was out drinking again so she was left in a silent room. Levy did not mind a bit of silence, but she was bored out of her mind.

Suddenly, she remembered that a few weeks ago, Cana set up a profile for her on a dating app and decided to see what her friend placed on it. Levy pulled out her phone, opened the application, and snorted at what Cana placed. It was an old picture of her at the beach in her sundress and everything in her descriptions sounded so pretentious, making her sound like some sort of hippie. Levy pulled her hair back with her yellow headband and trodded off to her bathroom. She stared at her reflection for a bit, contemplating if this was a good idea. She simply shrugged at her reflection and took one mirror selfie. She didn't care if it was blurry or not, it wasn't like she was taking any of this seriously anyway.

After Levy changed her profile picture, she began changing everything else Cana placed. It didn't take her more than five minutes to get everything done. She stared at her new profile blankly, feeling quite satisfied with how it turned out.

She began swiping through several guys, reading through their bios for fun when she stumbled upon this one profile. The guy's name was Gajeel Redfox. He had long dark hair, piercings on multiple places, quite toned arms, and a large motorcycle in the background. 'That looks so pretentious.' Levy thought, rolling her eyes. But upon further inspection, something caught her eye. In the guy's arms was probably the softest looking cat she's ever seen, and if there was anything Levy was weak for, aside from books, was cute cats.

Levy tapped on his profile and snorted at his profile.

_Name: Gajeel Redfox_

_Age: 23_

_Likes: My bike, my cat, cooking, and music._

_Dislikes: Cars or closed vehicles._

_Bio: My friends are making me do this._

"I feel you." Levy chuckled. She contemplated whether or not she should compliment him on his cat, and thought, 'Why not? Not like I'm asking him out or anything.' She flopped onto her bed and began typing away. After three minutes, she finally settled on a message that she thought made her sound borderline creepy, but at that point, she couldn't care less. She continued on with her bored scrolling, looking through guys, and some girls out of curiousity, but still nothing interesting came up. So Levy placed her phone on the night stand, not even bothering to charge it and immediately went to sleep.

The next morning, Levy was startled awake by a loud thud. She got up and saw Cana on the other side of the room, clearly hung over and struggling to find the bathroom door.

"A little… to your left, Cans." Levy yawned, getting off her bed.

Cana grumbled, "Thanks, Lev. Charged your phone by the way. You got a message."

Levy blinked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she made her way to the kitchen, "Yeah, sure. I'll check on it later." Levy made some breakfast for the both of them while Cana took a 2-hour shower, which Levy was 97% sure Cana slept through most of.

It was around 10:35 am, and Levy and Cana were lounging in the kitchen, talking about Cana's latest adventure.

"Wait, wait, wait. Can you repeat that? Did you say Erik _finally_ kissed Kina?" Levy gasped.

Cana smiled smugly, "That or he was aggressively eating her face off." Levy laughed at that, smacking her roommates arm. "Ow! Lev!" Cana chuckled, throwing a small rag at Levy, which the bluenette caught with ease.

"Levy, you should go out with us some time. Especially now you don't have much to do."

Levy shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee before replying, "I don't know. Cana, you know it's not really my scene. Partying, dancing, drinking…"

Cana rolled her eyes, "Lev, I know you drink. I've seen you drunk."

"Yeah," Levy retorted, "In the apartment. I'm not comfortable with drinking in public."

"Fine. You don't have to drink. But please come out with us tonight. The others miss you. They hardly see you outside the campus." Cana smiled hopefully at her.

Levy groaned, "Fine. Fine, but only for tonight." Cana satisfied with Levy's answer, wrapped her arms around her, "Thank you so much, Levy! I promise, you won't regret it."

Cana hopped of her seat and headed to Levy's closet, "Now come on. Let's find you something aside from hoodies to wear tonight. Should we pull out the old sundress?" Cana held out Levy's favorite yellow dress, winking. Levy laughed, snatching the dress from her friend and placing it back in her closet.

"Nope. What is it with you and this dress?" Levy asked as she sat back on her bed.

"Hun, if I had you body, I'd be wearing cute stuff like that like, every single day." Cana replied, scanning through Levy's other clothes.

"Yeah, but it's not practical." the blunette scoffed, picking her phone up from the stand. She saw the notification from the dating site. Levy opened it and almost choked on her own saliva from what she read.

Cana whirled around, "You okay?"

Levy nodded, chucking, "It's just this guy from the dating app."

Cana practically jumped onto the spot beside Levy on the bed, peeking over her shoulder to see what the message was. The taller girl shoved Levy from disappointment, "I thought it was something good."

"It's pretty funny." Levy shrugged.

"He just complimented the toilet. The fuck?" Cana shoved Levy again, "Lemme see his profile."

Levy tapped on his profile, handing the phone to Cana. The other girl whistled as she looked at his profile, "Dude's a snack."

"His cat's cute."

Cana gave Levy an unamused look, "Of course you'd be looking at the cat. Why am I not surprised? And- wait. Did you just change the pic I used for your profile?"

Levy rolled her eyes, snatching the phone back, "Yeah. I didn't like it."

"Levy…"

"Cana, if I'm going to put my picture on a dating site, I don't wanna put something so flashy. Weeds out the assholes." Levy shrugged, scrolling her phone again.

The brunette stared at her small roommate, feeling the urge to say something but decided against it. She learned the hard way that if Levy didn't want to bring it up, she shouldn't bring it up. Cana simply sighed, raising her hands in defeat, "Okay then." She went back to looking through Levy's clothes, silently picking out a few tops.

A heavy tension hung in the air of the apartment. Light was shining through the windows but the place never seemed so dark before. Cana then turned to Levy and held up a black halter top and jean shorts to break the tension, "How bout these?"

Levy looked up from her phone and nodded, "I'm okay with those." Then went back to scrolling through her phone.

Cana sighed, "Lev, I'm sorry." She sat at the foot of the bed, laying the clothes near Levy's feet, "I just… I thought that was a nice picture."

The smaller girl sighed and shifted her position so that she was laying her head on Cana's lap, "I know. It was a nice one. But when it comes to dating… I don't want to dress nice or look good for the sake of being attractive. The last time—"

"I know." Cana smiled sadly, gently squeezing Levy's arm, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Levy placed her hand on Cana's, "Thank you."

"Now…" Cana said, taking the phone from Levy's hands, "Are you gunna reply to Mr. Toilet here?"

The bluenette laughed, "Nah. What else do I say anyway? Let's just leave things as is."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey, guys! Sorry about the first chapter, it was quite sloppily written, I was nervous and just immediately uploaded my story. And, yeah, it's been around… 3 years since I've written a story so please go easy on me. Anyway, I hope you like this one. :) And there will be more chapters. I have several plans for this story and I hope y'all will like 'em. If you have any suggestions or even requests, feel free to PM me. :) Thank you for reading! See y'all in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

The night was cold and Levy wondered how the hell was Cana perfectly fine in her outfit. It was covering almost nothing. Levy stuffed her hands in her pockets, her fingers freezing. The girls were on their way to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of their friend's restaurant. They made their way into the restaurant, where their friends, and some other people Levy didn't recognize, were waiting for them, but didn't notice them enter.

Cana called out upon entering, "Guess who finally came out of the apartment?"

Levy felt her blood rush to her cheeks as everyone's heads turned to them and all her friends cheered at her arrival. After, the embarrassing greeting, she made her way to the owner of the restaurant, Mirajane, "Hey, Mira."

"Levy, I'm so glad to finally see you again!" Mira giggled with a tight hug, "We missed you like crazy."

Mirajane has been Levy's classmate since they were in high school along with Cana and several other friends. They have parted ways ever since they graduated, but they always kept in touch.

"How's the restaurant going?" Levy asked.

Mira and her siblings, Elfman and Lisanna, run a restaurant named The Strauss House. After high school, Mira didn't have enough money to pay for college and the tuition of her two younger siblings, so she started a small catering service to be able to send Elfman and Lisanna to high school and college even if she couldn't. As time passed, her business grew and grew which allowed her to set up a restaurant of her own.

Mira's smile grew, "Really great! You should come here sometime! We hired this new chef two months ago who, I'll admit, I was quite skeptical about at first, but he did better than expected and he cooks really well. He and some of my staff aren't here yet, but I gotta introduce you to them later, okay?"

"Sure." Levy replied with a nod. She then went around and chatted with some of the people in the restaurant. There were some people she knew in high school like Kinana, Erik, Laki…

"LEVY-CHAN!"

Levy turned around and immediately her face lit up. It was her two childhood best friends, Jet and Droy.

"Oh my gosh! It's been so long since I've seen you two!" she squealed as they sandwiched her in a hug. They have been best friends since they were practically babies and grew up together. They, like their other friends, parted ways after they graduated, but Jet and Droy never failed to be there for her, even if it was through a screen.

"Oh my gosh, Jet! Look at you! I thought you were kidding when you said you grew your hair out." she laughed, gently punching Jet on the arm. She turned to Droy and laughed even harder, "And Droy! What happened to you?"

Droy had always been so fit ever since they were kids, but now, he had truly let himself go and put on a lot of weight. He sighed, "College happened." making Levy laugh even more.

Jet chuckled, "Well, you haven't changed one bit!"

"Don't you dare say it."

"What? I was just going to say your hair is still the same." he smirked, to which Droy snickered. Levy punched them both in the arm, making them laugh. Just then Mira called out to her.

"Levy!"

* * *

Gajeel got off his bike and took his helmet off. He wasn't one for festivities but his friends and co-workers, convinced him to attend the party. From the outside, he could already hear music playing and people cheering. It was nothing too wild, which was good, but he knew these people. It would never end well.

Juvia, getting out of her car, approached Gajeel, "Gajeel-kun? Is everything alright?"

The pierced man huffed, "Yeah, I'm okay." He patted Juvia on the head in appreciation, "Let's just get this over with."

"Now, now, Gajeel-kun." she tutted, linking her arm with Gajeel's, "Mira-san has been so kind to you. At least try to enjoy."

"Yeah, Gajeel."

They turned around and saw Natsu approach them. He had an arm wrapped around his girlfriend, Lucy Heartfilia. The two looked a little rustled up, which could only mean they had a fight before leaving the house and made up in the car. Gajeel and Juvia would know. They've caught them multiple times.

"Lucy-san! Your hair!" Juvia giggled, letting go of Gajeel, "Come, let Juvia fix it."

While Juvia fixed Lucy's hair, Natsu decide to ask Gajeel about the girl who had messaged him.

"No reply." Gajeel shrugged.

The pink-haired boy sighed patting him on his back, "You'll find another soon."

"Nah. I ain't lookin' anyway."

"Okay then." Natsu sighed in defeat, "But thanks, though. For agreeing to set up that profile. I know you didn't wanna, but we just want you to get out more. Do more with your life." He glanced at Lucy, who was giggling up a storm with Juvia about something, and he couldn't help but smile. "Ever since I met Luce… I don't know, man. Life's been better. Even the shitty times seem great with her around."

Gajeel snorted, "Yeah, don't get all weepy on me."

"I'm serious!" Natsu chuckled, "This shit can actually be good for ya. I've been sleeping well since I met her, ya know?"

Gajeel raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Damn. That's great, man." Natsu had been suffering from extreme insomnia due to some childhood trauma he had when he was younger, so for Natsu to say that he has been sleeping well was a big thing.

"Exactly! That's why I want you to get out more. It could actually be really good for ya."

Just then Lucy called out to the two of them. Juvia had finished working her hairdresser magic on the blonde, putting her hair in an elegant french braid, and Gray had just arrived and was giving Juvia a hug.

Gray asked, his arms still wrapped around his girlfriend, "You guys good or are you gunna start making out?" Natsu flipped Gray off and took Lucy's hand, pulling her to his side. Gajeel could only stare at the door. He didn't mind being a fifth wheel, but all of the public displays of affection was making him quite uncomfortable and extremely aware of how he was still single. Natsu's words rang in his head and he considered the fact that maybe putting himself out there might actually be good for him.

When they finally entered the venue, Gajeel was quite overwhelmed by the amount of people. There were some staff members, some regulars of the restaurant, and others he didn't recognize, which he assumed to be close friends of the Strauss siblings.

"Hey, guys!"

Mirajane, the owner of the restaurant, approached them, giving all of them a hug, "I'm so glad you guys are here!"

Lucy smiled, "Wouldn't miss the celebration for the world, Mira."

"Come on! There's someone I want you guys to meet." She took Lucy and Gajeel's hands, pulling them along while Gray, Juvia, and Natsu followed. They made their way through the huge crowd to the table nearest to the counter.

"Don't you dare say it."

"What? I was just going to say your hair is still the same."

Mira called out, "Levy!"

A girl with blue hair whirled around to face them. Gajeel could feel his breath hitch in his throat. _'It's her.'_ he thought to himself.

"Dude." Gray whispered to Gajeel, "Isn't that—"

"Holy shit! You're the girl who messaged Gajeel on the dating site!"

'_Shit.'_

Gajeel instantly regretted being at the party. The girl from the dating site, Levy, looked just as embarrassed as he did. Gray punched Natsu in the arm, but that didn't help anyone's case.

"Oh?" Mira's eyes widened in delight, "You guys know each other?"

Gajeel exchanged looks with Levy, both apologetic and uncomfortable in every way.

Mira giggled, squeezing Levy's arm, "It's no wonder both of you have been so secretive! You guys should have told me sooner!"

"Oh, uhm.." Levy laughed nervously, "We haven't gone out or anything. We haven't even really talked."

Mira patted Levy's arm, "Well, now's the perfect opportunity for you two to finally get to know each other." She pulled Jet and Droy with her, both extremely shocked and confused, "Come on, guys! Let's give them some space." Lucy and Gray awkwardly walked after Mira. Juvia sighed, giving Levy and Gajeel and apologetic smile and followed them. Natsu, upon realizing the others had gone, slowly backed away from them, especially from Gajeel who was glaring daggers at the pink haired boy. And with that, the two were alone. They were in a crowded restaurant, sure, but it was just the two of them at the table.

"So.. Levy, right?"

She looked up at him and nodded, "And if memory serves me right, you're Gajeel."

"Yeah." he replied. She was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, then again, even he was uncomfortable. Who wouldn't be?

She cleared her throat, "So, you know Mira?"

"Uh, yeah. I work here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm a, uh.. a chef here."

Levy nodded, and looked around the room, he did the same. She saw people drinking away. A couple who were "discreetly" leaving the restaurant. He then saw Mira, Lisanna, and the others sitting at a table on the other side of the room, sneaking glances at him and Levy. When they realized that Gajeel was looking at them, they immediately diverted their attention to the wall.

"What's up with your friends?" Levy asked.

Gajeel looked at her then back at his friends, " Ah, they, uh… They really want me to go on a date."

She chuckled, "With me or just in general?"

"Just in general, I guess." he shrugged, "But since you're here, they know you… I can tell they're rooting for you."

"Do _you_ wanna go on a date?"

He smirked at her, "With you or in general?"

Levy rolled her eyes, "In general."

"Nah. It's a big waste of time." he replied.

They returned to looking over at Mira and the others, and caught them staring once again. Instead of looking away, Mira and the rest awkwardly waved at Gajeel and Levy. Gajeel just sighed, burying his face in his hands while Levy waved back. Suddenly, Levy whispered, mischief evident in his voice.

"Wanna fuck with them?"

He gave her a confused look, "What?"

She faced him, trying her best to hide her grin and keeping her voice low, "Look. _They_ want us to go on dates when clearly, neither of us are interested? Why not make them think we're dating just to get them off our backs, and mess around with them? Two heads are better than one."

"Wha- Why would you even wanna do that? You're crazy."

"Correction." She shrugged, "I'm bored."

He stole a glance over at his friends who were looking at them, and just then he was highly aware of several other people who were glancing at the two of them. He has always felt so disconnected from everyone else. It didn't bother him at all, but there were times he did want to put himself out there and just have fun. He turned back at Levy and smirked.

"Aight. I'm in."

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I'm sorry for a really lazy chapter. Anyway, what did you think about the chapter? What do you think will happen? If you have anything you think would be fun to see happen in this story, feel free to PM me. I would like to hear your feedback and ideas. Please don't be too harsh though, hahaha. I accept constructive criticism, but not insults, please. Anyway, I'll do my best to update as soon as I can. Love ya, guys! Take care!


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